WASHINGTON - The House is steaming toward a historic vote on President Barack Obama's remake of the U.S. health care system, with Democratic leaders increasingly confident and the powerful seniors' lobby AARP about to get on board.
A debate and vote are expected Saturday on the 10-year, $1.2 trillion bill that would extend coverage to 96 percent of Americans, require employers to insure their employees and bar such insurance company practices as dropping coverage for sick people.
Democratic leaders shrugged off Tuesday's election losses in governor's races in Virginia and New Jersey, focusing instead on their wins in two House races, a Democratic seat in northern California and one in New York that had long been held by the GOP. Both winners will be sworn in ahead of Saturday's vote.
Leaders stopped short Wednesday of declaring they had the 218 votes needed to pass the bill, and they were still negotiating language on abortion and immigration. But scheduling the vote meant those issues would have to be resolved and undecided lawmakers would have to declare themselves.
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"It is human nature to sort of keep discussing until decision time is at hand," Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said after meeting with second-year lawmakers Wednesday evening. "Decision time is upon us."
Said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.: "We are on our path. We're very excited."
Action is slower on the other side of the Capitol, where senators are awaiting an analysis from the Congressional Budget Office on legislation written by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and others. The timeline there appears likely to spill into next year.
The House effort is getting a big boost from the AARP, which was set to endorse the bill, something that proved a crucial stamp of approval when then-President George W. Bush pushed the Medicare prescription drug benefit through a closely divided Congress in 2003.